UC San Diego

There were a lot of people attending this tour. The tour guide was explaining that UCSD is different than other UC's. There are 6 colleges that make up UCSD: Revelle, John Muir, Thurgood Marshall, Eleanor Roosevelt, Earl Warren, and the new Sixth College. Rumor has is that the separate college system was established to avoid having one major campus center, similar to Berkeley, where demonstrations flourished in the 1960’s. Most students, at least in their first couple of years, stick primarily to their own colleges. It is possible for a student to have any major in any of the colleges; however, each college has its own general education requirements (GE’s) that cater to a specific area of focus. Thus, there are stereotypes that arise within certain colleges

The Geisel library is named in honor of Audrey and Theodor Seuss Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss) for the generous contributions they have made to the library and their devotion to improving literacy. The Geisels were long-time residents of La Jolla, San Diego.

The building is the most recognizable building on campus. The library was simply called the "Central Library" until a renovation was completed in 1993. The library was re-dedicated as the University Library Building and was renamed the Geisel Library Building in 1995.

One unusual feature of the library is that the lower levels are numbered 1 and 2, and the upper floors numbered 4 through 8 (No number 3 is listed). This has given rise to several fanciful explanations for why the third floor is apparently sealed off and not accessible from elevators or steps.

One of the more popular stories is that the building's design had not taken into account the eventual weight of books in the library, so the third floor has of necessity been left empty. This is a common urban legend, associated at different times with many other university libraries.

In reality, the "missing" third floor is actually the open/outside forum. There is no other third floor, blocked off or otherwise. It is simply reinforced concrete and an emergency exit that helps students from the 4-8 floors get out without having to go to the second floor.

The campus is beautiful, full of many hidden art pieces. Here we checking out a piece of art called the "singing tree" stuck in the middle of real trees. The singing music play randomly! It could be really scary to walk at night time and hearing music coming out of a wooded area without any lighting.

Sun God is a statue by French sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle located on the campus . The statue is a 14-foot multicolored bird-like creature, perched atop a 15-foot-tall horseshoe-shaped rock pedestal.

Erected in February 1983 as a part of a public art projects, the fiberglass Sun God has become a unique feature on the UCSD campus. Since the 1980s the UCSD Associated Students organization has sponsored an annual event, the Sun God Festival, with the statue as its official mascot.

Before the tour ended, our tour guide mentioned that SCSD is a very good. It is ranked #2 Computer Science behind Berkeley and ahead of UCLA. After the guide said that, you can hear Vu said: "What? No way!" (Vu is studying Computer Science in UCLA). Everyone was looking at Vu and give him a smile! Vu tried to Google the stats but could not find any to confront the tour guide! Vu is pretty sure that UCLA is number 2 behind Berkerley...

After driving off UCSD Hoa noticed a Pho restaurant really close by. I am sure a lot of Vietnamese students eat here to get their Pho fix!